Violent storm strikes Bay Hill area, suspends Palmer Invitational

ORLANDO - The PGA Tour rolled the dice on what vice-president of Rules and Competitions Mark Russell called a "50-50 chance."

The final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational came up on the wrong side of that gamble.

A severe thunderstorm that included a dangerous "microburst" lashed the area around the Bay Hill Club and Lodge at around 2:30 p.m., with one wind gust measured at 62 mph. The Orlando International Airport reported a gust of 86 mph and the area was under a tornado warning.

About 1.4 inches of rain fell on the course and play was suspended for the day at 4 p.m. because of standing water, washed-out bunkers and slight damage to hospitality tents, concessions stands, a picnic area and small scoreboards. No injuries were reported.

According to the National Weather Service, a microburst is a downdraft [sinking air] in a thunderstorm that "can cause comparable, and in some cases, worse damage than some tornadoes produce."

The storm halted the highly anticipated battle between seven-time Bay Hill winner Tiger Woods and flashy young gun Rickie Fowler. Play will resume on Monday at 10 a.m. with 43 players returning to finish. Golf Channel will air the remainder of the final round.

Before the storm, Bubba Watson had the low round of the day with a 67. Graeme McDowell shot 69.

Woods (12-under) had just birdied the second hole on a 15-foot putt to take a three-shot lead over playing partner Fowler, who parred his first two holes. Fireworks were brewing from behind when Keegan Bradley, John Huh and Ken Duke tied Fowler at 9-under and Justin Rose led four players at 8-under.

However, players were called in at 2:03 p.m., with Woods and Fowler yet to hit their tee shots at No. 3, and the storm barged through the area about 30 minutes later. By that time, fans had also been evacuated.

"We stress safety for our spectators, players ... everybody," said tournament director Scott Wellington. "We got all the players off right away and we did our best to get people under cover and out as quickly as we could. I think we did a pretty good job under the circumstances."

The Sunday forecast had been dire for 24 hours but the Tour, in consultation with local tournament officials, host Arnold Palmer and NBC decided against moving up tee times, with players in threesomes and using a two-tee start.

In those cases, broadcast times don't change and the tournament is aired on a tape-delay basis. The policy has been used in the past when weather forecasts were particularly threatening.

"We talked about [starting earlier] yesterday [Saturday]," Russell said. "We had a 50-50 chance and we decided to try. We just got unlucky today."

Russell said there have been times when the Tour played early and got no rain. He also said that going to a tape-delay is not as palatable as in the past with the increasing number of platforms - the Internet and social media - where fans can get real-time results.

"People were going to know who won before it came on TV, so it defeats our television partners," he said.

The Palmer Invitational is the third Tour event this season that will finish on either Monday or Tuesday. The Tour has experienced six suspensions in 13 events, with nearly every type of weather coming into play: rain, snow, sleet, fog and wind.

"We've dealt with this before," said Woods, who won the Farmers Insurance Open in January on a Monday finish. "This is part of playing outside. We've got to deal with conditions like this."

Woods has often thrived in tournaments finishing on a Monday. In addition to winning at La Jolla this season, he won the 2001 Players Championship, the 1997 Hyundai Tournament of Champions and the 2000 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am when going to an extra day.

If he wins on Monday, Woods will take over the No. 1 spot on the World Golf Rankings and tie Sam Snead's record for winning a tournament eight times.

Garry Smits: (904) 359-4362

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